GarageBand For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 15

Recording Vocals and Acoustic Instruments with a Mic

IN THIS CHAPTER

Choosing a microphone

Recording with microphones

Improving the sound of recordings

This chapter cuts to the heart of audio recording — using a microphone or microphones to record vocals and instruments. As usual, Apple has done much of the heavy lifting already by including several dozen presets that you can use to change the sound of your recorded vocals and acoustic instruments. You, as the recording engineer, don’t have to worry as much about what type of microphone you should use to record which instrument or how much echo to apply to a grand piano, for example. The presets do it for you — and quite nicely I might add.

You’ll be surprised at how good your recordings sound even if you use only your iDevice’s built-in microphone. However, for better-quality recordings, almost any external microphone you happen to have handy will sound better than the built-in mic. Note, too that some mics work better for vocals and instruments than others. You can find details about choosing a mic in Chapter 2. In this chapter, you find out how to set up and position microphones for recording, as well as advice, tips, ...